Final Fantasy VII: Jenova's legacy
by Dante665
Summary: Takes place 4 months after Dirge of Cerberus. life continues for the planet's heroes, but is a new crisis developing? rumors spread that Sephiroth is alive, and Vincent begins to feel the presence of Chaos yet again.
1. Chapter 1

**Jenova Experiment: Legacy**

A man stumbled into the wreckage of the old Shinra building. His body screamed in

agony, and the majority of his clothing was ruined. He was driven to this place by flashes of

memories,and a dark presence that spoke to him in a seductive tone reminiscent of a

snake. It enticed him with promises of knowledge, and an end to the pain he felt. The man

knew nothing about himself, and he did not know what dangers this building held, but it felt

good to be out of the rain, and the residual Mako radiation left in Midgar. He looked around,

and noticed a number of bodies in strange suits, with glowing blue lines, and single- eyed

helmets. He had seen these in many places, most of the time being cleaned up by people who

called themselves the "WRO." He continued shuffling through the building, being driven by his

fragmented memories. He pushed back his long, silver hair, moving it out of his face. He knew

this place was once a grand building, dedicated to scientific research… it was this research that

he needed to learn more about. Something on the fringe of his memories told him this place was

once his home, but it was a cruel, clinical world. He was trained to fight, to lead, and to kill.

He finally found an old lab near the top floor. It seemed like many human experiments occurred

here, yet the man felt this was not the worst of it. There was another place… The man walked to

a computer, and turned it on. He searched through it, and found the head scientist's name was

"Hojo." Based on the files he uncovered, Hojo worked on some secret project in Shinra mansion,

located in Nibelheim… The man would go there next, to see what else he could find. A tremor of pain

slashed through him, and he fell to his knees. "_Do not waste time here! The end to your pain is not far! _

_Continue down into the living quarters. Your room is 106. Go, now." _The voice spoke to him in its chilling

way. There was something wholly disturbing about the voice… it was better than the other voice, which

simply roared and snarled for release. He did not understand what these voices were, but he was

determined to find out. He went to where the voice and his memories told him to go.

He found the room, and punched in the access code. He figured the code was another part of himself

he needed to figure out. The door slid open and the man saw a bare room, furnished with only the most

basic furniture. A bed, a writing desk, and a closet. In need of clothes, the man walked to the closet, but

noticed the door was jammed stuck. He rammed a fist through it, and wrenched it open, not feeling the

additional pain. Inside, he noticed a couple pairs of leather boots, pants, and a long coat, along with

leather gloves. There was also a shirt, but he decided not to wear it. He noticed that the clothes looked

like some sort of uniform, since they were all the same thing. When he put them on, he noticed that they

fit perfectly, allowing free, silent movement. _"Perhaps," _He mused, "_I was a soldier at some point… What else _

_will I learn?" _Suddenly, he felt a presence enter the room. He turned quickly; ready to defend himself if he

needed to. There, in the center of the room, was an orb, slightly larger than a golf ball, and blacker than

moonless midnight. The orb looked as though it could suck the light out of the room, and plunge the world

into darkness. Memories began surfacing, flashing, nonsensical. He felt as though this dark orb was somehow

good. He slowly walked over to it, and the closer he got, the less pain he felt. He picked it up. Suddenly, the

orb let off a black light, and slowly began dissolving. It became insubstantial as a shadow, and began floating

in the air in front of him. He was interested, but not afraid. The shadow began moving around him, caressing

him. He felt the silken flow of magic. It jerked away from him, and then shot into his heart. He felt pain, and power.

He learned more about the object, the Black Materia. He knew this was not inherently evil, but contained the power

of death, while the white contained the power of life. The two Materia together had immense power. With this

knowledge, he also learned the former user of the Black Materia. Sephiroth. He liked the name. The man stood up

tall and straight, mentally forcing the pain into submission. He saw Sephiroth, saw what he did, and understood his

madness. He also saw his sword, the Masamune. The man extended his left arm, willing the magic of the Black Materia

to do his bidding. Shadowy tendrils twisted down his arm, coalescing between his spread fingers. The shadowy blob

elongated, thinning and shaping itself. The darkness dispersed, and he saw a new weapon in his hand. It was not the

Masamune; this was a dark- forged blade, imbued with the magic to rip dimensions. This was Shi Kiba. He swung the blade

vertically at the bed. It was sliced perfectly. The man noticed black and blue streaks of energy from the sword. The weapon

had much power. Smiling, the man returned the sword to its sheath inside the Black Materia. He could call it in a split second,

if he needed to. There was still much the man needed to know. He would start by going to Edge; there was something there

he needed to find…. Something there, calling to him. This was different from his other memories and the calls of the voices,

which warned him away for some reason. He felt like there was something nice to be found in Edge, like he belonged there.

He walked over to the window, and noticed the large drop. He took a few steps back, and then dove through, feeling better

than ever now that the pain was gone. He landed on some ruins, landing with an almost floating quality, and jumped the fifteen

feet to the ground. He looked back at the Shinra building, grimacing. This was a place of evil, a place that worshipped

death and abominations over life. He would return to destroy this place, when he learned more about his latent abilities.

With a swish of his new coat, the man began his lonely trek to Edge.

* * *

AN: Good day to you all. I havent posted anything in months, and that is primarily due to extreme computer problems. Every time I've tried, It has epically failed on me. Anyway, new story, I'm trying to right some ff7, until I get more time to re start my old story. So, rate, review, I'd love to hear what everyone thinks. Also, how is the formatting? cuz before, it was too long, so I tried breaking it up this way to see what works... anywho, hope to read some reviews soon.

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	2. Chapter 2: Soul Born of Terra Corrupt

**Soul Born of Terra Corrupt**

Tifa leaned on the counter, taking a break now that things started settling down. It was a busy night, and only calmed down very recently. She let her mind wander to Cloud; now that all the craziness with Sephiroth and Deepground was over, he had finally asked her out on a real date. That was two months ago, and they've been going out ever since. Tifa smiled at the thought. Cloud was adorable in his dating awkwardness. Before their first date, Tifa had eavesdropped on Cloud asking Vincent for dating advice. Vincent! Oddly enough, he had given Cloud exceptional advice, which was more strange than seeing Vincent smile, something he had recently started doing a lot more of.

Tifa poured herself a small drink, lost in happy memories. She heard the door open, and turned around to face the new customer. She started grinning when she saw that the new customer was none other than Vincent himself. He returned her smile with a slight one of his own. He walked up to the counter, and said, "Tifa, how are you? How's business?" Tifa smiled before answering. "I'm fine, just a little lonely. I miss Cloud. Business is also doing well." She liked the new Vincent; he was much chattier and less scary. "What have you been up to?" she asked. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a strange materia. "I've been searching for unique materia, and studying some of the ruins at the City of the Ancients. I've uncovered many interesting artifacts and writings, and much of it references the nature of Black and White Materia. Seems there is more to them than we realized." He frowned, and glanced over his shoulder. "By the way, I met up with Barret a while ago. He says he will be here in a couple days to see how much his daughter has grown." Vincent smiled. Marlene had definitely started growing, and it was always comical to see Barret's extreme exaggerations. Of course, he would never tell it to his face. Then, Vincent turned serious as he thought of something. "Have you heard from Yuffie?" Tifa smirked at him, and replied, "She is almost done with a minor mission with Reeve. She should be back in a couple days. Why don't you go up to your regular room? You look like you need a shower and a nap. How hard have you been travelling?" Vincent grimaced. "I ran into some of Shinra's loose experiments. Seems the ones that escaped from their labs have been reproducing in the wild. It will be more difficult than we thought to get rid of them all." Tifa looked down. She hoped Cloud was alright. As if sensing her thoughts, Vincent gently lifted her head, looked deep into her eyes, and said, "I know it is somewhat useless to tell you not to worry about Cloud, but don't. He is perfectly capable of protecting himself from minor nuisances, as he has proven time and again to us. He will be back within the week; he just wanted to make sure there is no more suspicious activity in the Northern Crater. I'll be going to my room now." Tifa smiled as Vincent walked up the stairs. Despite his outward coldness, Vincent was a good friend. She hoped he would finally be able to talk to Yuffie about how he felt.

Vincent walked quietly up the stairs, down the hall, and into the last door on the left side. He calmly shrugged off his red cloak, now dirty due to all the fighting he had done, and laid it over a chair. He slipped off his golden gauntlet, and tossed it on the bed. Before he continued getting ready for his shower, he pulled out another materia. It shone a bright blue- gray, and had many unique properties to it. He had begun carving it into the shape of a rose, and took great care to place it gently on the desk by his bed. It was a rare materia, meant for a rare person… eventually. He sighed, and went to take his shower.

Vincent woke from a nightmare in a cold sweat. This was the third day since he had arrived at the 7th Heaven. In that time, people had come and gone. Barrett came, and was now helping Tifa run the bar. Reno, Rude, and Elena came by, drank a lot, and the next day offered Vincent his job back, as a Turk. Vincent almost accepted, but felt like his time as an archaeologist was more productive. Shelke also dropped by, and was now staying with them. Her body had recovered from the experimentation, and she seems to have begun aging again. Vincent could hardly believe that just a year ago, it seemed like Shelke would be trapped forever, as he was. He was glad it was not the case. One year ago… he had been freed from Chaos, yet he somehow survived the extraction. Now, he had a nightmare that Chaos was back. He briefly felt the chilling presence, and his other monsters responded accordingly. Now, it was over, but he still felt an ominous dread… something was coming.

He tried to go back to sleep for at least an hour, but once he was up, there was no chance of that happening. So, he went downstairs, and sat in the darkness for a bit. He was wearing clothes Yuffie bought for him. A black shirt, long sleeved and fitted to his slender frame, long black pants, and leather boots. Oddly enough, Yuffie knew exactly what to get him. Her reason for the random gift: "_I had a ton of extra Gil from the last mission for the WRO, and I thought you might need some normal clothes! I mean, you can't walk around with armor and capes all the time, people will think you are a nutty hobo or something! At least these will make you look slightly less like a vampire! You like 'em Vinnie?" _He smiled. At the time, he told her he liked his old clothes, but he did like the new clothes. They made him look… nice. More human. More like how he was before the experiments… to add to the effect, he also had his hair trimmed, and combed. It was still long, but now had a more refined look. He suddenly jerked straight up. Yuffie was coming back today; she had called ahead last night. Vincent went over and started preparing a big breakfast, partially because he had nothing better to do, but mostly because he wanted to surprise Yuffie with his cooking skills.

Cloud sat atop Fenrir, looking across the desolate landscape. Zack's grave marker still stood. Despite the heat of the desert, Cloud felt a cold chill. On his way back to edge, he had heard rumors of someone who was travelling from the old Shinra building. Whenever the man passed through a town, death followed him. Cloud investigated, and some people said it was Sephiroth, others said it was a demon. Very few had anything positive to say, except a few shop owners. Apparently, the strange man came into their stores, and acted politely, despite the insults and threats against him. He bought some items, and paid extra to innkeepers who helped him keep his presence unknown. They said the man only killed those who tried to kill him first. Others disagreed, and said the man was a raving monstrosity, killing friends and family members who got in his way. From all the accounts, it sounded like Sephiroth; the only difference was his eyes. People claimed he had deep red eyes, like looking at red wine through a glass. Cloud investigated the murders, and saw the man had killed a number of people. Not all of them could have had the courage to try to fight him. Some looked as though they were hunted down. Now Cloud had to return to Edge, and quickly, lest the man go there first and… Cloud did not let his mind wander into such dark thoughts. He would get there first, and protect Tifa.

Cloud raced through the near empty streets of Edge, eager to be back home with Tifa, Denzel, and Marlene. On his way back, he had run into a number of twisted monstrosities. They had been breeding wildly. The WRO would have their hands full for a long time destroying Shinra's abominations. He turned down a side alley, and parked his bike. He walked quickly to the front doors, and used his spare key to get in. He immediately noticed something strange: delicious aromas were floating through the building. Tifa shouldn't be up this early. He quietly crept around a corner, trying to see what was happening. The kitchen was empty, but there were pans out and food being cooked. He stood up, thinking. "Cloud. We weren't expecting you back today," Cloud turned at the source of the voice, a small smile twitching at his lips when he saw Vincent sitting in a chair. His eyes widened when he saw Vincent's hair cut shorter, and wearing casual clothes. "Looking good Vincent. Why are you up cooking so early?" Vincent stood up and went to some of the cooking food, checking it. He finally responded, "I couldn't sleep, so I came to sit down here for a while. I got bored, so I started cooking. It will all be done by the time everyone else is up. Why don't you go say hi to Tifa? She's missed you for a long time, and wouldn't mind if you woke her." Cloud smiled. He had also missed Tifa. "Sounds like a great idea Vincent. I'll see you in a bit." Cloud rushed up the stairs. Vincent smiled, shaking his head. That was a very eager young man. Vincent kept smiling. He was glad Cloud and Tifa had finally gotten together. After all the stress and insanity, they deserved to be with someone they loved.

A lone figure stood outside the 7th Heaven. So many memories in this place… There was a delicious aroma wafting through the windows. Stomach rumbling with hunger, the person burst through the doors. She froze momentarily as she saw everyone sitting at a table, eating delicious food. Serving the food, wearing an apron, was Vincent. "Vinnie!!!!" Yuffie yelled as she ran to give him a hug. "You're wearing the clothes I bought you!! I knew you'd love them!" Vincent froze momentarily, but then returned Yuffie's hug with a tight embrace. "Welcome back, Yuffie," He said in his quiet voice. She looked up at him, her gray eyes sparkling brightly. Vincent could lose himself in those eyes… Yuffie turned to everyone else and said, "Glad you guys saved some food for me, I'm starving!" She jumped into a chair, which started to fall backwards, but Vincent caught it. He raised an eyebrow. "Try to be a bit more careful Yuffie. You could have gotten hurt." She looked back at him, a big smile on her face. Giggling, she said, "Aww! I didn't know you cared so much!" Vincent turned around, feeling his face heating. He brought Yuffie some food he prepared special. She looked at the plate with wide eyes.

"Wow Vince, this looks amazing!!!!! Smells amazing…" She took a big bite. "And it tastes amazing too! Who knew Vinnie could cook?" Everyone looked at her and laughed. "We were wondering the same thing," Cloud responded. Tifa smiled, and took her empty late to the sink. "Its good to have you back Yuffie." Yuffie swallowed another mouthful and said, "It's good to be back. Especially with Vince cooking such great food!" Barret grunted in agreement. Yuffie noticed Marlene and Denzel weren't around, so she inquired as to their whereabouts. "Oh, they finished quickly, so I sent them to go brush their teeth," Tifa answered. Yuffie nodded, and Vincent sat down in a chair next to her. Yuffie talked about what she was up to as she finished her food, and Vincent listened quietly, speaking up every once in a while. His deep, penetrating eyes hardly left her.

When she looked into them, it felt like he was gazing into her very soul. It was pleasant, in a thrilling way. Marlene and Denzel came down at one point, and both got big hugs from Yuffie, who was amazed at how much they had both grown. Then the two went out to play, and Barret decided to go along, and maybe take them to a park, or something. Tifa had a great idea. "Hey, Yuffie, do you and Vincent want to join me and Cloud for dinner tonight?" Vincent froze, his eyes going wide. Cloud was also a bit surprised. Apparently, this wasn't planned ahead. Yuffie looked at Vincent, and then started laughing. She finally said, "Sure that would be so much fun! You in Vince?" Vincent finally regained his composure. "Of course. It will be… fun. One condition though." Yuffie gave him a quizzical frown, and asked, "What would that be?" with a small smirk, Vincent said, "I pay for your meal." Yuffie giggled, and gave Vincent a quick hug. "You're such a gentleman! Bargain struck!" Vincent gave a quick smile, but then his face slid back into its normal, expressionless state. Cloud and Tifa stood up. "Alright, we are gonna go do some stuff. We'll meet up with you later at that restaurant down the street," Tifa said. She held Cloud's hand, and pulled him out the door. Vincent sat back, and looked at Yuffie. She yawned, and said, "Well Vinnie, I'm beat! I think I'm gonna go catch a few hours of sleep…" she gave him a big smile.

Vincent suddenly realized how tired he was as well. Nightmares, waking up early, and cooking were not working well together. "I think I'll go catch up on some sleep as well." She grinned, hugged him, and then walked upstairs, grabbing a bit of leftover food on her way up. Vincent also went to his room, and sat down on his bed. He heard the shower running. He tried to sleep, but his mind was racing. He heard soft footsteps out in the hall, and his door creaked open slowly. "Vincent?" Yuffie whispered into the semi- darkness. Vincent sat up. "Yes Yuffie?" She walked over. Vincent couldn't help but notice how alluring she looked in her nightgown. "Do you mind if I sleep in here for a bit? I've been having some trouble sleeping lately…" Vincent gave her a warm smile, and said, "I'd like that. Just this morning, I had terrible nightmares." Vincent pushed the blanket aside. Yuffie burrowed in, snuggling up next to him. He wrapped his arms around her protectively, and covered her with the warm blanket. Soon, in the comforting silence, they were asleep

Later, in the restaurant, everyone was having a good time. Yuffie, wearing a gray dress that matched her eyes, was entertaining everyone with loud stories of her recent mission. Vincent listened intently, a small smile on his face. He thought Yuffie's enthusiasm was adorable. Cloud and Tifa also shared some stories, though not with as fun a delivery as Yuffie. Just as Vincent thought that his life was finally getting fairly normal, a massive rush of dread hit him. He began looking around quickly, alert for anything out of the ordinary. Something was close by, and for some reason, it caused Galian Beast to react viciously. Vincent stood up, his lips curling back in a snarl. He caught himself, and turned his face into a blank mask. Galian never reacted so strongly before. Everyone was watching Vincent intently. Cloud finally asked, "Vincent, what's wrong?" Vincent's eyes narrowed as he tried to analyze the situation. "I'm not sure. I think…" He was cut short as People flooded into the restaurant, screaming in utter fear. There was an explosion. Vincent reached for Cerberus, but realized he didn't bring his trusted weapon. He glanced at Cloud, who nodded to Vincent. Cloud then turned to Yuffie and Tifa and said, "Come on, we have to get back to the bar." They all went out of the restaurant, Vincent protectively staying near Yuffie. He noticed Cloud was doing the same with Tifa. There was a trail of destruction leading to the monument in the center of town. Vincent briefly noticed some corpses were perfectly sliced apart, and the edges of the wounds were oddly smooth. No blade could do that.

They made it back to the 7th Heaven, noticing less death and destruction the farther they got from the center of town. Back at the bar, Vincent gently grabbed Yuffie's shoulders, and said, "I want you and Tifa to stay in here until Cloud and I return." She looked annoyed, and opened her mouth to complain against it, but Vincent silenced her with a finger. "I don't want to hear it Yuffie." His face took on a deadly look. "There is something out there, something that is causing Galian Beast to react very violently. I have to take care of this." She finally sat down, still looking angry, but also somewhat sad. He and Cloud ran to their rooms, changed quickly into their fighting clothes, and picked up their weapons. They met outside, grim looks on each of their faces. They departed quickly to the monument, each fearing what they might find there.

When they finally arrived, they saw a lone figure standing at the base of the monument. Long, silver hair stood out in sharp contrast to the black leather clothing. In his hand was a thin sword, long and glinting in the moonlight. The figure was clutching its head, as though it had a headache. Cloud held his sword in a death grip, and Vincent had Cerberus aimed at the man's head. "Sephiroth." Cloud hissed in pure anger. The hand dropped from the man's head, and he slowly turned to face them. At first, he showed no emotion. Then, the man's eyes widened in recognition, and he said, "Good to see you, Cloud." There was a small smirk on his lips. He turned to look at Vincent. Red eyes locked on each other, and Sephiroth's widened in shock and confusion. Vincent stood still, but felt Galian welling up inside. Suddenly, Sephiroth fell to the ground, screaming in agony.

More memories surfaced when Sephiroth saw Cloud, but upon seeing Vincent, something entirely different happened. Different memories burst forth, along with both voices simultaneously screaming out. One roared the other longed for Vincent. Sephiroth collapsed to the ground, clutching his head, trying to stop the flood of memories.

He was in a lab…. Someone in a lab coat was experimenting on him… Blood everywhere… He looked down at his hands, and saw they had become claws… revulsion welled up in him… screams… death… The scientist shot him in the stomach, but something held him on the cusp between life and death…. Suddenly, a dark presence returned him to the world of life. Power, and hatred, rage… Lucretia…

With a roar, Sephiroth stood up, banishing the memories. Energy burned from his body like steam. He calmed down, and noticed Cloud and Vincent were still ready to kill him, if necessary. He rose up to his full height, glaring at both of them. Part of his nature said they were enemies, part said friends. He held Shi Kiba at the ready. He wanted to avoid trouble, if possible. "Just stay out of my way, and we won't have any trouble," he told them. Cloud didn't seem to want to comply. "What are you doing here, Sephiroth?" Sephiroth grimaced and turned back to the monument. "First off, I am not THE Sephiroth; secondly, I am simply looking for answers." Cloud yelled back, "Of course you aren't THE Sephiroth, you're just another clone! Why can't you just stay where you belong, in my memories?" Unbidden, more memories flowed to Sephiroth. Suddenly, he lusted for power, for death. The Planet had to pay for all it had done. He understood and agreed with the original Sephiroth. In a dark whisper, Sephiroth answered, "I will never be a memory." He dashed over to Cloud, seeming to float, and viciously swung at his head. Cloud barely managed to deflect the blow. At nearly the same moment, Vincent turned to shoot Sephiroth, but he had jumped away before Vincent fired. Cloud lunged after him, and Vincent shot at him twice, but the bullets were deflected. Sephiroth swung his weapon, and black and blue orbs appeared, and shot after Cloud and Vincent. They were easily dispelled, and Vincent jumped on top of a building. Cloud ran close and began swinging violently, but no attack could get past Sephiroth's defenses. They both traded blows, neither being able to gain an advantage. The difference was Sephiroth seemed to be merely toying with Cloud.

Unnoticed, Vincent went around behind Sephiroth, and kicked him n the back. Sephiroth flew forward, but used the momentum to spin away from both Cloud and Vincent, sending blue slashes of light at them. Vincent shot again, this time grazing Sephiroth's arm. That angered Sephiroth, and he began attacking Vincent, who used his gauntlet to deflect the deadly blade. Vincent managed to catch Sephiroth's sword arm, and began slashing at his chest. With a roar of rage, Sephiroth twisted out of Vincent's grip, and kicked him in the chest. Hard. Vincent smashed into the side of a building, cracking the cement. He stood up in a daze, and Saw Sephiroth and Cloud hacking away at each other in pure rage. Vincent lifted up his gun, and fired. Because his vision was blurred, the shot did not hit a vital part of Sephiroth; it merely hit his leg. This gave Cloud a much needed opening, and Cloud cut Sephiroth from his left shoulder all the way down to his right hip. Vincent shook his head to clear it, and fired more rounds into Sephiroth's body. The Masamune fell to the ground. Cloud continued delivering crushing blows, and Sephiroth staggered back. Vincent began walking towards them, just as Cloud impaled Sephiroth. Blood was everywhere. Sephiroth stood, clutching the sword, blood dripping from his mouth. With a rattling breath, his head slumped forward. Cloud held up the dead weight, being wary for something strange to happen. Vincent walked up next to cloud, and looked at the body. Suddenly, Vincent felt a pulsing, stabbing pain in his heart. He only felt that one other time before, when the protomateria was removed from his body, and Chaos struggled to escape. Vincent looked around, and saw darkness starting to thicken around Sephiroth. The Masamune dissolved into shadow, and jumped into Sephiroth's chest. His head snapped up, and he glared at Vincent and Cloud. The once wine-red eyes now burned like hot coals in the darkness. With a bestial roar, Sephiroth removed the giant blade that was impaling him, and swung it around, hurling Cloud a good distance away. He threw the sword after its master. Vincent jumped back, going to help Cloud. When he saw that Cloud was alright, he looked back at Sephiroth. He was in a cocoon of dark swirls, but a barely discernable shape was underneath it all. Wind whipped around him, and there was a snarling, growling noise filling the air. Vincent froze in shock when he realized what was happening. "It can't be…"

Vincent stood, holding Cerberus in a rock- steady grip pointed at the orb of darkness. It suddenly burst apart, and Vincent's fears were confirmed. Stepping out of the residual shadows was Galian beast. Vincent wondered how it was possible. He noticed this one did not look exactly like his form. It had a long mane of shaggy red hair, and wore no gauntlet. Instead, around each wrist were a number of silver bands. Around the creature's waist was a black cloak. With a savage roar, it ran towards Vincent. He shot at it, but the bullets did little damage. It barreled into him, slashing with razor claws. He cut its face with his gauntlet, and it grabbed him around the throat. Instead of squeezing, it simply threw him into the ground with all of its animal power. He bounced once, and then lay still.

Cloud lunged at the beast, after seeing what it did to Vincent. It all happened very quickly, he didn't know how Vincent reacted so fast. He hacked at its arm, but its skin seemed to be extremely thick. The blow glanced off the iron hard muscle, and the beast whipped around, backhanding Cloud. He rolled, and tried to cast magic at the creature. A ball of flame hit it square in the chest, but seemed to do little damage. The beast looked at cloud, eyes smoldering, and Cloud finally recognized it. Galian Beast. This was bad. The beast opened its jaws, howling at him. The roar grew in intensity, until fire burned up around Cloud. It was using the amazingly destructive Beast Flare power. Cloud barely managed to escape its wrath. He was trying to find the creature through the haze of fire and smoke, but was too blinded to see. Suddenly, powerful claws caught him from behind, and pummeled him into the ground. His sword flew from his hand as the beast sought to tear his arms off. Cloud screamed in pain, trying to escape the relentless pull of the monster. Just as he thought he would surely die, the monster released him, shrieking in pain. Cloud saw the Buster sword rammed through the beast's leg, with Vincent standing behind it. He ripped the sword free, and then punched the creature. It flew back farther than it should have, and Cloud noticed that Vincent was radiating with power. "Cloud, go tell Yuffie and Tifa about this. I will finish this fight." Cloud stretched his aching arms, and nodded his agreement. He limped away as fast as he could.

Vincent felt the storms of anger pulsing through his very soul. Galian beast screamed for release, and Vincent was only too willing to grant the release. He let the energy flood through him, felt the darkness consume him once again. He roared his rage, and heard his voice slowly warp into the thunderous growl of Galian Beast.

The transformation complete, Vincent went right into the attack. He lunged onto his crippled opponent, causing the other beast's knees to buckle under the weight. He began hacking at Sephiroth's face and neck, and then sank his fangs deep into the carotid artery, tearing savagely at it. Sephiroth brought up his claws, and began tearing at Vincent's face, trying to gouge out his eyes. Vincent jumped back, and Sephiroth sought to press the attack, but the leg wound caused him to falter. Vincent rammed him to the ground, and used Galian's power to smash Sephiroth deep into the ground. Sephiroth brought up his good leg, and hit Vincent in the chest, throwing him off. As Vincent flew through the air, he unleashed a number of fireballs at Sephiroth. They all hit, causing him to stagger back in pain. Vincent went to attack again, and soon they were tumbling across the ground, the two beasts delivering punishing blows, occasionally breathing fire. Vincent was winning, and Sephiroth realized this. He jumped on top of the monument, seeking sanctuary from Vincent's wrath. Vincent stealthily went around the monument, and climbed up silently on the other side of Sephiroth. He then Lunged on top of Sephiroth, knocking him to the ground, and biting his neck. He lifted up the bloody and mangled beast and ferociously rammed him into the metal of the monument, causing him to be impaled. Before the beast could recover and get off, Vincent bent the metal around him, pinning him to the monument. The beast struggled for a moment, but the glow had left its eyes. In an orb of white light, Galian changed back into Sephiroth.

Vincent also reverted back to his human form, and looked at the newest incarnation of Sephiroth. This was too easy. Suddenly, Vincent felt a dark presence. Chaos was near. Sephiroth's body started to twitch, and jerk around violently. Crimson light bled from him, and waves of pressure forced Vincent back. With a tremendous explosion, the new transformation was revealed. A large portion of the monument was destroyed as Chaos floated before Vincent. He wore all black this time, with silver armbands. Chaos looked at Vincent with a look of longing and loathing. The air around the WEAPON shimmered in a red haze of energy. With a piercing shriek, Chaos took to the skies, eager to escape and recover. Vincent staggered back, chilled to the bone at seeing his former demon returned from the Lifestream. This could only mean a number of bad things were coming for them. He turned into Red Cloak, and flew back to the 7th Heaven as quickly as he could.

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End file.
